Nico Hulkenberg's daughter reacts to podium as F1 star wins her new toy

Daily Mirror

a day ago

Sauber star Nico Hulkenberg was a popular podium-sitter at the British Grand Prix as the German F1 veteran finally secured a top-three finish at the 239th time of asking
Nico Hulkenberg finally secured his first Formula 1 podium at the 239th attempt with a superb driver to third place at the British Grand Prix. And he also scored a new toy for his daughter, Noemi, who was watching on from home with his wife Egle.
Two safety car periods in a dramatic Silverstone race propelled the German veteran from 19th on the grid up to fourth. He then flew past Lance Stroll and kept the charging Lewis Hamilton, who had the support of the predominantly British crowd, at bay to finally make it to an F1 podium in his Sauber.
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Hulkenberg's wife and daughter were watching from home and, in footage shared online by Egle, their three-year-old Noemi screamed with joy at watching her dad pick up his prize on TV. And she will soon get her hands on that trophy, made entirely out of Lego.
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In the post-race press conference, when second-placed Oscar Piastri asked Hulkenberg if he was happy to have picked up only a plastic Lego trophy instead of the usual precious metal prizes, he smiled: "I love Lego, my daughter can play with it too. A bit of silver or gold would have been nice too, but I won't complain."
It was Hulkenberg's first experience of a podium in any racing category since winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015. He said: "It felt good. I still remembered how to do [spray the champagne]. I used to do it a lot in the juniors, and I've had to wait for quite a bit.
"I always knew we had it in us, that I had it in me somewhere. What a race, coming from the back of the grid, doing it all over again from last weekend– it's pretty surreal.
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"To be honest, not sure how it all happened, but obviously crazy conditions, mixed conditions. It was a survival fight for a lot of the race. I think we just were really on it, the right calls, the right tyres in the right moment, made no mistakes. Quite incredible."
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Hulkenberg was given a huge ovation by the Silverstone fans despite denying Hamilton a maiden Ferrari podium. He said: "Obviously [Hamilton] is going to give it all here in front of his home crowd. Sorry guys, but it's also my day.
"I was in denial until probably the last pit stop and then when I heard we gapped Lewis quite a bit with the one extra lap, I was like, 'Okay, this is good. It's some breathing space. But then he was catching quite quickly so the pressure was there. It was an intense race. But like I said, we didn't crack, no mistakes."
Hulkenberg is now ninth in the drivers' standings with 37 points, having scored in each of the last four races. His podium at Silverstone is Sauber's first since Kamui Kobayashi finished third at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix, and only the 11th top-three finish in their 32-year F1 history.